—Photo courtesy of Winona State Athletics Fort Dodge graduate Beth Murman returns a shot for Winona State. Murman was named the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women’s tennis player of the week.

WINONA, Minn. — Beth Murman is just thankful to be competing again.

The awards and honors are the icing on the cake.

Murman, a Winona State University junior, was recently tabbed the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women’s tennis player of the week for her efforts during a pair of sweeps last weekend.

The former state doubles and co-ed champion from Fort Dodge is currently playing at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles for the Warriors.

“The season has been going pretty well so far,” said Murman, a 2018 Fort Dodge Senior High graduate. “Our team has been working and training hard during the week to compete at our best for the weekend matches.

“We’ve adjusted and adapted to a lot of change, between (missing the last portion of the 2020 season because of) COVID and having a new head coach. I’m proud of us for that. We’ve got a lot more conference matches coming up to prove ourselves.”

Murman is 6-3 so far this spring in singles action, with victories in five consecutive matches. She has also teamed to prevail in four of her last five doubles matches against Minnesota Crookston, Bemidji State, Upper Iowa and University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

“I feel my personal play has been going well,” said Murman, who was a part of a state doubles championship with Jaci Cochrane and two co-ed doubles titles with Jonny Bowser at FDSH. “I know I have what it takes to win — it’s all about showing and doing it, one match at a time.

“I’m excited to continue to grind through my matches and give it all I’ve got. That’s definitely not going to stop.”

Murman is now a four-time NSIC player of the week. She was a first team all-conference doubles performer as a freshman in 2019, going 12-5 overall and 8-3 in the NSIC with teammate Kaisey Skibba.

Murman was 9-4 in singles last spring when the season was halted due to the global pandemic on March 12.

“We’ve been very lucky to have a schedule that doesn’t look much different from non-COVID years (in 2021),” said Murman, who swept through her four singles and doubles matches to garner conference honors last weekend. “Our outlook this whole season has been to be grateful we get the opportunity to win and learn, given we didn’t know what to expect going into the season with everything going on.”

Murman is the daughter of Fort Dodge’s Bruce and Dee Murman.

The Warriors are 6-3 overall as a team this year and 5-2 in the NSIC. They face Southwest Minnesota State at home on Saturday.

The conference tournament is April 23-25 in Sioux Falls, S.D.